As the most common cancer diagnosed among women world-wide, breast cancer is a disease of considerable public health importance. The number of established and hypothesized risk factors for breast cancer exceeds that of any other cancer resulting in a rich, but complicated and often conflicting literature on the epidemiology of this disease. Our understanding of factors that contribute to breast cancer risk, as well as the biology and molecular basis for this common disease, has greatly increased over the past few decades. This book provides a comprehensive review and critical assessment of the epidemiology literature on all major aspects of breast cancer incidence and mortality, etiology, and outcomes. Chapters are written by internationally recognized leaders in the field and provide a timely review of traditional etiologic risk factors, as well as more recently evaluated exposures. Several chapters are also devoted to clinical aspects of breast cancer including screening, diagnosis and treatment, and survival. As a result, this is the most up-to-date and comprehensive book on breast cancer epidemiology available.

Breast cancer remains a disease of considerable public health importance worldwide, with over 800,000 new cases diagnosed globally each year. Considerable energy is currently being spent by researchers to further our understanding of this complex disease, however, keeping up with all of the new data is a real challenge given the sheer volume of information that becomes available on a daily basis. The purpose of this book would be to provide a comprehensive review of breast cancer epidemiology, covering the topics of disease burden, etiology, risk factors, prevention, early detection/screening, treatment, and outcomes. The book would be a single comprehensive source of the most recent information on breast cancer epidemiology, and it would serve as a valuable resource for breast cancer researchers across disciplines regardless of what stage of their career they are in. To the knowledge of the editor, no such resource is currently available.

Global Burden of Breast Cancer.- Breast Cancer Biology and Clinical Characteristics.- In situ Breast Cancer.- Endogenous Hormones.- Exogenous Hormones.- Reproductive Factors.- Physical Activity and Anthropometric Factors.- Diet and Nutrition.- Environmental and Occupational Exposures.- Shift Work and Circadian Disruption.- Non-Hormonal Medications and Chronic Diseases.- Male Breast Cancer.- Inherited Predisposition: Familial Aggregation and High Risk Genes.- Common Genetic Susceptibility Loci.- Mammographic Density as a Potential Surrogate Marker for Breast Cancer.- Breast Cancer Screening.- Principles of Breast Cancer Therapy.- Breast Cancer Outcomes.